Often at yoga events or in the yoga/meditation community, there’s a special emphasis placed on the number 108.

For charity, to start the new year right, or during equinoxes or solstices, yogis often do 108 sun salutations. Malas contain 108 beads. But why?

Hindu Science

According to Shiva Rea, respected mathematicians of Vedic culture viewed 108 as a number of the wholeness of existence. It also is the number that connects the sun, moon, and earth. For instance, the average distance of the sun and the moon to the earth is 108 times their respective diameters. According to yogic tradition, there are 108 pithas, or sacred sites, throughout India. And there are also 108 Upanishads and 108 marma points, or sacred places of the body.

In addition, in the Sanskrit alphabet there are 54 letters; each has masculine and feminine, shiva and shakti. Multiply that by two and you’ll get 108.

Other Religious/Cultural Significance

The number 108 is used in Islam to refer to God.

One-hundred and eight small Buddhas are carved on a single walnut as good luck charm.

Chinese astrology says that there are 108 sacred stars.

The first space flight lasted 108 minutes on April 12, 1961

Penelope of Ithaca had 108 suitors after believing that her husband, Odysseus King of Ithaca, was never going to return home.

Jews often give gifts and charitable donations in multiples of the number 18, associated with the Hebrew word “chai,” which means life. One-hundred and eight is a multiple of 18.

Living every single day for the mat, Sara is a yoga teacher, a published yoga writer and storyteller, an innovative yoga marketer, a YOGANONYMOUS editor, and a dedicated yoga student.

Sara strives to live from the connection of her head and her heart and encourages her students and clients to do the same by motivating them to step into their full powerful purpose through the transformational magic of yoga.

When not on the mat, you can find this earth sign hiking up a mountain in the beautiful Boulder, Colo., where she’s based or shredding down a ski hill.